p=2^y 






The Administration of the Massachusetts 
and Virginia Navies of the American 
Revolution* 

By CHARLES OSCAR PAULLIN. 




Reprinted from the Proceedings of the United 
States Naval Institute, Vol XXXII, * 
No. I, Whole No. U7. 



[COPYRIGHTED. ] 

U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 

AND VIRGINIA NAVIES OF THE AMERICAN 

REVOLUTION. 

By Charles Oscar Paullin. 



With the exception of New Jersey and Delaware each of the 
thirteen original states during the Revolution owned one or more 
armed vessels. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, Virginia, and South Carolina had the largest fleets. New 
Hampshire with its one ship and Georgia with its four galleys just 
escaped being in the same class with New Jersey and Delaware. 
The navies of Rhode Island, New York, and North Carolina were 
small. The navy of no one state was so large as that of Con- 
gress. The total number of state craft, however, greatly ex- 
ceeded the number of vessels in the Continental navy. The state 
vessels on the average were smaller and not so well armed as the 
Continental vessels. The states generally had less means for 
naval purposes at their disposal than had Congress, and were 
therefore not so well able to build large vessels. Then, too, the 
chief need of each state for a navy was to defend its seaports, 
coasts, and trade. For such services small craft adapted for run- 
ning in and out of shallow harbors, rivers, and bays, were de- 
manded. The states, therefore, provided themselves with armed 
boats of various sizes, galleys with and without sails, half-galleys, 
floating batteries, barges, and fire-ships. Besides such vessels 
as these most of the states had a few larger and stouter sailing 
craft, mounting generally from ten to twenty guns and fairly well 
fitted for deep-sea navigation. The one state whose deep-sea 
exceeded its inshore craft was Massachusetts. 



132 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

The history of naval administration in the several states pos- 
sesses some common features. It will be recalled that in most 
of the states the provincial government about the year 1775 was 
superseded by a revolutionary government, and this in turn about 
a year later was succeeded by a permanent state government. 
The revolutionary government consisted of a legislative body, or 
Provincial Congress, and of an executive body, or Committee of 
Safety. The permanent state government consisted of a Legis- 
lature of one or two Houses and an Executive, which was either 
a Council, or a Governor and Council. The initial naval admin- 
istration in the states usually fell to the Committee of Safety, or 
Revolutionary Executive, which upon the change to a permanent 
state government bequeathed its naval duties to the Council or 
to the Governor and Council. In most of the states the details 
of naval administration were at some time during the Revolution 
lodged with an Executive Board. In some states there were sep- 
arate boards for naval and military affairs ; in others, one board 
performed both functions. 

The history of naval administration in the states falls into two 
periods, one embracing the years from 1775 to 1778, the other the 
years from 1779 to 1783. In the first period each state procured 
a naval armament, as a rule for the general purpose of providing 
a naval defence, and not to meet some specific call for armed ves- 
sels. By 1779 the first naval craft had been largely captured, 
destroyed, or sold ; and often the first machinery of naval admin- 
istration had been in large part removed. In response to special 
needs for armed vessels, calls for which came most often from 
those who were suffering from the ravages of the British fleets, 
the states now procured additional vessels, and often devised new 
administrative machinery to manage them. 

In defensive warfare the problem in each state was to provide 
for the defence of its ports, trade, coasts, and shipping. The of- 
fensive warfare of the state navies, which was quite secondary 
in importance, consisted chiefly of commerce-destroying, con- 
ducted along the great ocean-paths of British trade. The princi- 
pal problem here was for the American vessels in leaving home 
ports and in returning with their prizes to elude the British ves- 
sels, which hovered along the American coast, especially at the 
mouths of the Chesapeake, Delaware, and Narragansett bays. It 
is always to be remembered that in all the states the privateers 

Gift 
tkor 

'. Person) 

* -^06 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 133 

exceeded the state craft, which were often insignificant in com- 
parison. 

The reader will recall that in June, 1775, the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought, a British army occupied Boston, and British ves- 
sels sailed the New England seas with little or no opposition. 
These vessels had already committed depredations and " piracies " 
upon the coasts and trade of Massachusetts, and were obstructing 
the importation of ammunition and provisions for the Continen- 
tal army. It was under these circumstances that Massachusetts 
took her first step towards procuring a naval armament. On 
June 7, her Third Provincial Congress appointed a committee of 
nine " to consider the expediency of establishing a number of 
small armed vessels, to cruise on our seacoasts, for the protection 
of our trade, and the annoyance of our enemies." The Provin- 
cial Congress, which moved very cautiously, enjoined secrecy on 
the committee. On June 10, three additional members were 
added to the committee; but later in the day a new committee 
consisting of seven members was apparently substituted for the 
old one. On June 12, the committee " appointed to consider the 
expediency of establishing a number of armed vessels " made a 
report which provided for the fitting out of not less than six ves- 
sels, to mount eight to fourteen carriage guns, and to cruise under 
the orders of the Committee of Safety — the chief executive organ 
of the Provincial Congress, consisting of nine members, three of 
whom were from Boston. This report came up several times 
between June 12 and June 20. Finally on the latter date " the 
matter was ordered to subside." * The Battle of Bunker Hill-, 
which was fought on June 17, may have had something to do with 
this action of the Provincial Congress. 

On July 19, 1775, the Revolutionary Government in Massachu- 
setts was superseded by a permanent government consisting of a 
House of Representatives and a Council of eighteen members 
elected by the House; the two houses were called the General 
Court. The continued depredations of the British now caused 
several endangered ports to ask the General Court to provide 

1 Journals of Third Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, June 7, June 
io, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 16, June 19. and June 20, 1775. All 
references to the state records of Massachusetts refer to the manuscripts 
or early printed copies to be found in the State Library or State Archives 
at Boston. 



134 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

them with a naval defence. The part of Massachusetts which 
during the Revolution was most exposed to the attacks of the 
British, and which was most troublesome to defend, was the 
coast of Maine, then often referred to as the Eastern Coast. In 
August, 1775, a petition came to the General Court from Machias, 
a town situated on the Maine coast a few miles west of the pres- 
ent Eastport, asking that commissions be granted to officers and 
men on board two armed vessels which citizens of Machias had 
fitted out for the defence of their town. In response the Gen- 
eral Court took into the service of the state the sloop Machias 
Liberty and the schooner Diligent. 2 Jeremiah O'Brian, one of the 
men who had signed the petition, was commissioned by the Coun- 
cil commander-in-chief of the two vessels, and he was directed to 
enlist a number of men, not to exceed thirty, for each vessel. The 
Machias Liberty and the Diligent were in the service of the state 
until October, 1776, when they were discharged. About the first 
of October, 1775, Salem and Newburyport each asked the Gen- 
eral Court for naval aid similar to that granted to Machias, but 
did not receive it. 3 

The General Court of Massachusetts next turned its attention 
to privateering. The acts of the states on this head fall into two 
general classes ; those which in terms established state privateer- 
ing, and those which adopted Continental privateering or accom- 
modated state laws to the same. After the first half of 1776 all 
the states used Continental commissions and bonds. Massachu- 
setts, moving in this matter before Congress, necessarily estab- 
lished state privateering. On September 28, 1775, her House 
of Representatives, having such establishment in view, appointed 
a committee of seven to consider the " Expediency of fitting out 
a Number of Armed Vessels." On October 9, this committee re- 
ported -in favor of instituting privateering and a prize court to 
try cases of capture. On October 14 a bill embodying the com- 
mittee's recommendations was introduced. It now passed slowly 
through the legislative mill, and on November 1, it became a law. 4 

journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, August 21, 1775. 
O'Brian's name is found spelled in various ways. 

s Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, September 29, 
October 2, October 4, 1775; Records of General Court of Massachusetts, 
October 4, 1775. 

4 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, September 28, 
October 6, 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 27, November 1, 1775. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 135 

John Adams once referred to this statute of Massachusetts as one 
of the most important documents in the history of the Revolution. 
Its preamble was the work of Elbridge Gerry, and the body of the 
law was drafted by James Sullivan, many years later Governor 
of Massachusetts. 5 Gerry stated the sanctions for the law. 
These he found in the arbitrary and sanguinary acts of Great 
Britain, in the charter of Massachusetts granted by King Wil- 
liam and Queen Mary, and lastly in the resolution of the Con- 
tinental Congress of July 18, 1775, recommending each colony 
to provide by armed vessels or otherwise for the protection of its 
harbors and navigation. 

The Massachusetts law provided that all vessels convicted of 
making unlawful invasions or attacks on the seacoasts or naviga- 
tion of any part of America should be forfeited. The Council 
was authorized to grant letters of marque and reprisal to masters 
and owners of vessels upon their entering into bond to faithfully 
discharge the duties of their office and to observe the naval laws 
of the colony. Three admiralty districts embracing the counties 
on the Massachusetts seacoast were established. The Southern 
district, with the seat of its court at Plymouth, embraced Ply- 
mouth county and the counties to the southward ; the Middle dis- 
trict, with the seat of its court at Ipswich, embraced the counties 
of Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex and extended from Plymouth 
county to New Hampshire; and the Eastern district, with the 
seat of its court at North Yarmouth, embraced the seacoast coun- 
ties of Maine. The form of procedure in these courts was fixed 
for both captured and recaptured vessels. In the latter case sal- 
vage was to be from one-third to one-fourth of the selling price of 
the vessel. The facts in prize cases were to be tried by twelve 
good and lawful men. At this time the people of Massachusetts 
were so enraged at the judges of the former Provincial admiralty 
court that they would have universally condemned the trying of 
facts in prize cases by judges. 8 

The Council soon appointed three judges of admiralty, Nathan 
Cushing for the Southern district, Timothy Pickering for the 
Middle district, and James Sullivan for the Eastern district. El- 
bridge Gerry declined the judgeship for the Middle district. 

5 Austin's Gerry, I, 94-95 ; Works of John Adams, X, 37. 
*Amory's Sullivan, II, 378-79, James Sullivan to Gerry, December 25, 
1779- 



136 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

After trying about one hundred and fifty prize cases Pickering, 
in June, 1777, resigned and was succeeded by Nathan Cushing, 
who now served as judge in both the Southern and Middle dis- 
tricts. 7 Comparatively few cases were tried in the Southern and 
Eastern districts. Timothy Langdon was for a long time judge 
of the Eastern district. 

During the fall of 1775 the General Court took no steps towards 
establishing a state navy. It was at this time assisting Washing- 
ton in obtaining and arming vessels for the Continental military 
service around Boston. Early in December the House of Rep- 
resentatives, acting on a recommendation contained in a letter 
from John Adams at Philadelphia, resolved to obtain statistics on 
the number of officers, seamen, and vessels, suitable for naval pur- 
poses, in the seaports of Massachusetts. On December 29 the 
Council declared for a navy by passing the following resolu- 
tion : " Whereas several of the United Colonies have of late 
thought it expedient and necessary to fit out armed Vessels for the 
Defence of American Liberty, and it appears to this Court neces- 
sary that Measures be taken by this Colony for our further Pro- 
tection by Sea: Therefore, Resolved, that John Adams and 
Joseph Palmer, Esqurs. with such as the Hon. House shall join be 
a committee for fitting out one or more Vessels for the Defence of 
American Liberty." 8 

The House at once appointed its members of the committee, 
which on January 12, 1776, made a report favorable to the estab- 
lishment of a navy. 9 Accordingly, on February 7, a resolution 
passed the General Court to build ten sloops of war, of no or 
115 tons burden, each, suitable for carrying fourteen to sixteen 
carriage guns, 6-pounders and 4-pounders. A joint committee 
of the two houses was appointed to build the vessels, and £10,000 
was voted for this purpose. 10 On the 16th the committee was 

7 Records of Massachusetts Council, November 14, December 9, Decem- 
ber 12, 1775; Pickering's Pickering, I, 79-80; Amory's Sullivan, I, 63. 

* Records of General Court of Massachusetts, December 29, 1775. 

Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, January 12,- 1776. 
On January 11 the Council resolved that two ships, one of 36, and the 
other of 32 guns, should be built. On the same day both House and 
Council voted to recommit the resolution in order that the committee which 
prepared it might report on the expense to be incurred in building and 
fitting the two ships. It does not appear that further action was taken. — 
Records of Massachusetts Council, January 11, 1776. 

10 Ibid., February 6, 1776; Journals of Council, February 7, 1776. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 137 

authorized to contract for the building of only five vessels, until 
there was a prospect of procuring materials for ten ; it was author- 
ized to buy five vessels if it thought it best. 11 By July, 1776, the 
sloop Tyrannicide built at Salisbury, the brigantine Rising Em- 
pire built at Dartmouth, and the brigantine Independence built 
at Kingston were ready for sea; and by September the sloops 
Republic and Freedom built at Swanzey, and the Massachu- 
setts built at Salisbury were completed. 

Meanwhile the General Court had prepared and adopted the 
legislation necessary to establish a navy. It had drafted proper 
naval forms; and it had appointed a number of naval officers. 
A partial pay-table was established on February 8. 12 This on 
April 12 was succeeded by a new one, which generally raised 
wages, and which provided for a number of new offices. A cap- 
tain was now to receive a monthly wage of £8 ; a first lieutenant, 
£5 8s. ; a second lieutenant, £5 ; a master, £4 ; a mate, £3 ; a sur- 
geon, £7; and an ordinary seaman, £2. Each vessel was to be 
provided with 115 officers and seamen. No better proof of the 
rawness of the naval service is needed than the regulation that 
recruits, whether officers, seamen, or marines should furnish them- 
selves with " a good effective Fire Arm, Cartouch-Box, Cutlass, 
and Blanket." The captains were ordered to recommend to the 
Council a list of inferior officers and to enlist the proposed number 
of seamen and marines. Captors were given one-third of the pro- 
ceeds of prizes. 13 

On April 27, 1776, the General Court fixed the respective shares 
of the proceeds of prizes for officers and seamen : a captain was 
to receive six shares, and " all the Cabbin Furniture ; " a first 
lieutenant, five shares ; a drummer, one and one-fourth shares ; 
a seaman, one share ; and a boy, one-half a share." On April 29, 
in order to encourage enlistment, an advance of one month's wages 
was voted to recruits. On the same day it was decided that " the 
Uniform of Officers be Green and White, and that the Colours 
be a white Flagg, with a green Pine Tree, and an Inscription, 
' Appeal to Heaven.' " " On July 26 the Council appointed a 

11 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, February 16, 1776. 
13 Ibid., February 7, 1776; Records of Massachusetts Council, February 
8, 1776. 
18 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, April 12, 1776. 
"Ibid., April 27, 1776. 
15 Ibid., April 29, 1776; Records of Massachusetts Council, April 29, 1776. 



V- 



138 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

prize agent in each of the three admiralty districts, whose duty 
it was to represent the state in receiving, trying, and selling 
prizes. 16 At times the prize agents assisted in fitting out vessels. 

During the first half of 1776 the law of November 1, 1775, 
establishing privateering was three times amended and re-mod- 
elled. 1 * The law was thereby accommodated to the resolutions 
of the Continental Congress fixing the kinds of property subject 
to capture, and the respective shares of captors and recaptors. 
Doubts which had arisen as to the proper construction of the origi- 
nal act were now removed. The procedure before admiralty 
courts was made more specific. In cases of captures made by 
Continental vessels, appeals were permitted from state admiralty 
courts to the Continental Congress; in all other cases appeals 
were allowed to the superior state courts. In each of the three 
admiralty districts in Massachusetts additional towns were named 
where court might be held. The towns named for the Middle 
district were Boston, Salem, Ipswich, and Newburyport. 

During the summer and fall of 1776 the instructions and orders 
to the captains of the armed vessels were issued to them by the 
Council, having been previously prepared by a committee. The 
following instructions which were drafted by Thomas Cushing 
and Daniel Hopkins were given to Captain John Fisk, and will 
suffice as a sample of such documents : 

" The Brigantine Tyrannicide under your Command being 
properly Armed and Man'd and in other respects fitted for a 
Cruize you are hereby Ordered and directed immediately to pro- 
ceed to Sea and Use your utmost Endeavours to protect the Sea 
Coast and Trade of the United States and you are also directed to 
exert yourself in making Captures of all Ships and other Vessels 
Goods Wares and Merchandise belonging to the King of Great 
Britain or any of his subjects wherever residing excepting only 
the Ships and Goods of the Inhabitants of Bermuda and the Ba- 
hama Islands — You are directed not to Cruize further Southward 
than Latitude Twelve North nor farther East than Longitude 
Nine Degrees West from London nor farther West than the 
Shoals of Nantucket. At all times using necessary precautions 
to prevent your Vessel from falling into the hands of the Enemy." 

16 Records of Massachusetts Council, July 26, 1776. 

"Laws of Massachusetts, February 14, April 13. May 8, 1776. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 139 

" And Whereas you have received a Commission authorizing 
you to make Captures aforesaid and a set of Instructions have 
been delivered you for regulating your Conduct in that matter; 
these Instructions you are Hereby directed diligently to attend to, 
and if you are so fortunate as to make any Captures you are to 
Order them to make the first safe Harbor within the United 
States. — and you are furthered Ordered not to expend your Am- 
munition unnecessarily and only in time of Action or firing Alarm 
or Signal guns." " 

Until October, 1776, the Massachusetts navy was administered 
by the General Court, committees of its members, the Council, 
and naval agents. The General Court for the period of its re- 
cess in May, 1776, placed the armed vessels in the charge of " the 
committee for fortifying the harbor of Boston." By the fall of 
1776 it realized that " secrecy, dispatch, and economy in con- 
ducting the war " demanded a special executive department. 
Accordingly, on October 26 it established a Board of War consist- 
ing of nine members, any five of whom constituted a quorum. 
The Board of War was " empowered to Order and Direct the 
Operations of the Forces in the Pay of this State, both by sea 
and land, by giving the Commanders of the Troops, Garrisons, 
and Vessels of War, such Orders for their Conduct and Cruizes 
from time to time as they shall think proper." 19 It organized by 
electing a president and secretary ; and it rented permanent quar- 
ters near the State House in Boston. In December, 1776, James 
Warren, later Commissioner for the Continental Navy Board at 
Boston, was president of the Board of War. Philip Henry Sav- 
age was for a long time its president. Savage presided at the 
meeting in 1773 at Old South Church which decided that the tea 
should not be landed. 20 The Board of War entered upon its work 
with vigor in November, 1776. It was yearly renewed, until it 
was dissolved in February, 1781. 

The principal business of the Board of War was the adminis- 
tration of the naval, commercial, and military affairs of the state. 
Its naval and commercial duties were quite engrossing. The 

18 Records of Massachusetts Council, October 29, 1776. The naval docu- 
ments introduced into the narrative on the Massachusetts navy are typical 
of similar ones in other states. 

18 Resolves of Massachusetts, October 26, 1776. 

10 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, II. 543. 



140 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

Board kept fairly distinct the activities of its " armed " and " trad- 
ing " vessels. It is true that the armed vessels were now and then 
sent on commercial errands, or combined in a single voyage naval 
and trading duties. The sloop Republic used for a short time 
as a naval vessel was taken into the commercial service. The 
Massachusetts Archives contain a list of thirty-two trading ves- 
sels owned or chartered by the Board of War. 31 These vessels 
visited Nantes, Bilbao, Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Eustatius, 
Cape Francois, Baltimore, and the ports of North and South Car- 
olina. They carried as staple exports, fish, lumber, and New 
England rum. As a rule the work of the Board of War in look- 
ing after its trading vessels exceeded its naval work. At times, 
as in the case of the Penobscot expedition, the naval duties were 
the important ones. A week's work of the Board in behalf of its 
armed vessels shows a curious mixture of orders on the commis- 
sary-general for clothing and provisions, and on the state store 
keeper for naval stores ; and of directions to the prize agents, the 
agents for building armed vessels, and the naval captains. The 
General Court permitted the Board a fairly free hand in its man- 
agement of the navy. The Board carried on a considerable cor- 
respondence with the commanders of the armed vessels. The 
following letter written to the Board by Captain John Clouston 
of the armed sloop Freedom on May 23, 1777, from Paimboeuf, 
France, will illustrate this correspondence from the Captain's 
side. Houston's disregard of orthography and punctuation is 
exceptional even for a Revolutionary officer. 

21 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XL, no-ill. The influence of 
the friendly relations existing between the United States and France during 
the Revolution in the naming of vessels early manifested itself. On Decem- 
ber 27, 1776, the Massachusetts Board of War changed the names of a 
number of its trading vessels as follows : Ships Julius Caesar to Bourbon, 
Venus to Versailles, and Friend to Paris; brigantines Charming Sally to 
Penet, and Isabella to Count D'Estaing. The brigantine Penet, which was 
named for a French merchant at Nantes, a member of the firm of Pliarne, 
Penet & Co., agents for the United States, has been sometimes confused 
with the brigantine Perch, which was obtained by Massachusetts in the 
fall of 1777 for the sole purpose of conveying the news of Burgoyne's 
surrender to the American Commissioners at Paris. The letters and dis- 
patches were intrusted with Jonathan Loring Austin, secretary to the 
Board of War, who after a passage of thirty days reached the Commis- 
sioners at Passy on December 4, 1777. — Board of War Minutes, December 
27, 1776; Hale's Franklin in France, I, 155. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 141 

" Gentlemen : 

I have the pleasure of Informing your Honours by Capt. Fisk 
of the Massachusetts That on the first Instant I arrived safe in 
this Port after taking twelve Sail of Englis Vessels Seven of 
which I despatched for Boston Burnt three gave one smal Brigg 
to our Prisners and one Retaken by the Futereange which Chast 
us fore Glasses and finding she Could not Cume up with us 
she gave Chase to our Prize and toock her in our sight — I have 
Cleaned & Rented my Vessel and Taken in forty Tons of War 
like Stores and have bin waiting for a wind to go this fore days — 
Capt. Fisk being short of Provisions I have supplied him with 
foreteen Barels of Pork and Eleven of Beef and have Suffi- 
santse for my Vessel left." ** 

In January, 1777, a new sea establishment was effected. 
Wages were generally raised, no doubt chiefly to meet their de- 
crease caused by the depreciation of the currency. A captain 
was now to receive a monthly wage of £14 8s. ; a lieutenant or 
a master, £7 4s. ; a seaman, £2 8s. ; and a boy, £1 4s. The offices 
established in the Massachusetts navy, while not quite so many, 
were in general the same as those in the Continental navy. The 
Massachusetts navy however had the offices of prizemaster, pilot, 
and boy, which did not occur in the Continental list. Following 
the regulations of Congress the General Court now gave captors 
one-half of their captures. The rations for seamen were modelled 
on the Continental bill of fare. 23 On March 21, 1777, the General 
Court adopted rules and regulations for its ships of war; and it 
ordered that they should be read by the commanding officer of a 
vessel at least once a week. These rules, while briefer than the 
Continental rules, naturally followed the same general lines. 
They show either the influence of the Continental rules or of the 
English rules upon which the Continental rules were based. The 
following curious rule in part parallels one of the Continental 
rules. 

" And if any Person belonging to either of such Vessels shall 
be convicted of Theft, Drunkenness, profane Cursing, or Swear- 

22 Board of War Letters, Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, May 23, 
I777- 

23 Massachusetts Resolves, January 8, January 24, 1777. On December 6, 
1776, six naval offices were established, which included a captain's clerk, 
prizemaster, and sergeant of marines. 



142 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

ing, disregarding the Sabbath, or using the Name of God lightly, 
or profanely, or shall be guilty of quarrelling or fighting, or of 
any reproachful or provoking Language tending to make Quar- 
rels, or of any turbulent or mutinous Behavior, or if any Person 
shall sleep upon his Watch, or forsake his Station, or shall in any 
wise neglect to perform the Duty enjoined him, he shall be pun- 
ished for any of the said Offences at the Discretion of the com- 
missioned Officers of such Vessel, or the Major Part of them, ac- 
cording to the Nature and Aggravation of the Offence, by sitting 
in the Stocks, or wearing a wooden Collar about his Neck, not 
exceeding 4 Hours, nor less than one, or by whipping, not exceed- 
ing 12 Lashes, or by being put in Irons for so long Time as the 
said Officers shall judge the Safety and well being of the Ship 
and Crew requires, or otherwise shall forfeit to the State not 
more than six, nor less than two Days Pay for each offence." * 

During every year of the Revolution attempts were made to in- 
crease the Massachusetts navy. In the fall of 1777 the brigan- 
tine Hazard was added. On August 6, 1777, the General 
Court resolved that, since the armed vessels at the lowest compu- 
tation had netted the state £55,000, the Board of War should pur- 
chase or build two vessels mounting 28 and 32 guns respectively. 
In January, 1778, it reduced the sizes of these vessels almost one- 
half; and finally it gave up building them. 28 In the spring of 
1779 a prize of the Hazard, the brigantine Active, taken in 
April off the island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, was pur- 
chased. 28 In April, 1778, the General Court resolved to build a 

24 Massachusetts Resolves, March 21, 1777. 

25 Ibid., August 6, 1777 ; January 17, 1778. 

20 The following is an extract from the enlisting contract of the armed 
brig Active, which was signed by officers, seamen, and marines: "And. 
we hereby bind ourselves to Submit to all orders and regulations of the 
Navy of the United States of North America and this State and faithfully 
to observe and obey all such orders, and Commands as we shall receive 
from time to time from our Superior Officers on board or belonging to 
the said Brig, Active, and on board any Such Boats or Vessel or Vessels 
as foresaid. 

" And it is on the part of the State that such persons as by Land or sea 
shall Loose a Limb in any Engagement with the Enemies of these United 
States of America or be otherwise so disabled as to be rendered incapable 
of getting a Lively Hood Shall be entitled to the same Provisions as the 
disabled Persons in the Continental Service." — Massachusetts Revolutionary 
Archives, XL, 20. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 143 

frigate of 28 guns which would carry two hundred officers and 
men. 27 This vessel was built at Newburyport and was named the 
Protector. In the fall of 1779 it was nearing completion. The 
launching of the Protector, which was the largest ship in the 
Massachusetts navy, was a matter of more than usual local inter- 
est. Stephen Cross who was in charge of the construction of the 
frigate wrote a letter to the Board of War in July, 1779, which 
throws light upon the minor naval duties of the Board. Cross's 
language is a bit involved, but his meaning is clear; it is hardly 
necessary to say that the " souring " refers to lemons. 

" Gentlemen : 

it being customary for the owners of Vessels when they are 
Launched to give the Workmen something Better than New Eng- 
land Rum to drink & Likewise something to Eat and also all those 
Persons who attend the Launching Expect to be asked to Drink 
and Eat something and Especially Publick Vessells it will be Ex- 
pected that something be Provided and it is my opinion about 
sixty Galls of West India Rum & sugars for the same & souring 
if it be had and one Quarter Cask of Wine and A Hamper of ale 
or Beer together with a Tierce hams Neet Tongs or Corn Beef 
will be necessary to comply with the Customs in these Cases." a 

After August, 1779, when the disaster on the Penobscot occur- 
red the naval duties of the Board of War were slight. For a 
time the Protector was the only vessel in the navy. With the 
coming in of a new government under a Constitution on October 
25, 1780, there was no longer much need for a Board of War. 
According to the provisions of the new Constitution the Governor 
was commander-in-chief of the navy; and he was authorized to 
" train, instruct, exercise, and govern it," and to call it into ser- 
vice in time of war. On February 8, 1781, the Board of War 
was discontinued, and Caleb Davis, who was appointed Agent of 
the Commonwealth, succeeded to its ministerial duties. 29 The 
Governor and the Agent now shared the naval duties. The Gov- 
ernor commissioned officers, issued orders to the naval comman- 
ders, and was responsible to the General Court; the Agent had 

27 Massachusetts Resolves, April 21, 1778. 

28 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XLIV, 279. 

29 Massachusetts Resolves, February 8, 1781. Three members of the 
Board of War and two clerks were continued for a few months to settle 
the accounts of the Board. 



144 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

direct oversight of the fitting out of vessels, the selling of prizes, 
and was responsible to the Governor. As the Revolution spent 
itself the simplification of the administrative machinery of the 
state continued. On January i, 1783, the Agent was discon- 
tinued. His naval duties fell to the Commissary-General. 30 

During each year from 1780 to 1783 the General Court made 
one or more attempts to increase the naval force of the state. It 
was spurred to action by the ravages of the British cruisers on 
the Eastern Coast. On March 21, 1780, two armed vessels 
mounting not less than ten or more than fourteen 4's or 6's were 
ordered. The expense incurred was to be met by the sale of the 
" Rising Empire " and of the confiscated estates of Loyalists, 
and from rents of the property of absentees. On March 6, 1781, 
the Agent was directed to obtain a small vessel of eight to twelve 
guns to serve as a tender for the Mars; and on April 23 he was 
ordered to procure by hire or purchase two small craft to be em- 
ployed as " guarda coasta." On November 12, 1782, a commit- 
tee was appointed to purchase a vessel of twelve or sixteen guns 
to be used in protecting the coast. On March 26, 1783, the Com- 
missary-General was ordered to obtain a small vessel and a whale- 
boat to cruise against the enemy in Casco Bay and along the 
Eastern Shore. 81 As the result of these resolutions four armed 
vessels were added to the navy; in the spring of 1780 the Mars; 
in the summer of 1781, the Defence; in the winter of 1781-1782, 
the Tartar, which was built by the state ; and in the spring of 
1782, the Winthrop. 

Private naval enterprise throughout the Revolution was ex- 
ceedingly active in Massachusetts. In 1775, some months before 
the General Court granted letters of marque, Massachusetts citi- 
zens unauthorized were capturing the vessels of the enemy. 
Scarcely a fortnight after the battles of Lexington and Concord 
men from New Bedford and Dartmouth fitted out a vessel and 
attacked and cut out from a harbor in Martha's Vineyard a prize 
of the British sloop-of-war Falcon, 16. This act was called forth 
by the captures which the Falcon had made from the people of 
Buzzard's Bay. On June 12, 1775, the inhabitants of Machias, 
Maine, had captured the King's sloop Margaretta, Lieutenant 
Moore, after mortally wounding the commander and inflicting a 

30 Ibid., October 4, 1782. 

31 Massachusetts Resolves, March 21, 1780; February 19, March 6, April 
23, 1781 ; November 12, 1782 ; March 26, 1783. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 145 

loss of fourteen men. Still other British vessels were captured 
off the coast of Maine during the summer of 1775. 32 

With the act of November 1, 1775, granting the Council the 
power to issue letters of marque and reprisal, all such private 
enterprises as the above when done under the authority of a com- 
mission were legal. It does not appear however that Massachu- 
setts granted many commissions until the second half of 1776. In 
1777 she granted 96 commissions. The best year was 1779 when 
she issued 222 commissions; the year 1781 with 216 commis- 
sions was not far behind. The total number of commissions 
issued by Massachusetts for the years 1777 to 1783 was 998. 33 In 
1779 one hundred and eighty-four prizes captured by privateers 
were libelled in the Massachusetts prize courts. 34 The privateer- 
ing industry in this year was very active. The following is an 
extract from a letter dated May 16, 1779, written from a Massa- 
chusetts seaport: 

" Privateering was never more in vogue than at present ; two 
or three privateers sail every week from this port, and men seem 
as plenty as grasshoppers in the field; no vessel being detained 
an hour for want of them. We have near 1,000 prisoners on 
board the guard-ships in Boston, and a great balance due us from 
the enemy. Cruisers from New York, &c are daily brought in, 
and often by vessels of inferior force; our privateers-men being 
as confident of victory, when upon an equal footing with the 
English, as these were of gaining it of the French in the last 
war." 3o 

The rivalry between the state service and privateers for seamen 
was exceedingly active. In 1779 the Council recommended that 
some effectual measures be taken to prevent the owners of private 
ships of war and merchantmen from seducing seamen away that 
were engaged in the public service. It declared that proper en- 
couragement must be given to state officers and seamen, and that 
commanders must have the aid of the government in manning 
their vessels, " or thev will lie by the Walls and so be of little or 



32 Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 564; Maday, History of 
American Privateering, 52-60. 

33 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives. The total number of priva- 
teering commissions always exceeds the total number of vessels, as the 
same vessels were often commissioned two or more times. 

M Boston Gazette for 1779. 

33 Virginia Gazette, June 19, 1779. 
10 



146 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

no service." 8B In 1778 the General Court found some difficulty 
in securing commanders. 

The movements of the armed vessels of the Massachusetts navy- 
were quite similar to the movements of the naval vessels of Con- 
gress. 87 The smaller fleet like the larger cruised in European 
waters, in the region of the West Indies, and to the eastward of 
the Bermudas in the path of the richly-laden West Indiamen. 
The Massachusetts vessels, however, cruised more frequently 
nearer home. About the first of June, 1779, the Hazard and 
Tyrannicide were in the region of Nantucket. After 1779 the 
vessels were frequently ordered to protect the Eastern Coast. In 
the spring of 1777 the Tyrannicide, Captain Jonathan Haraden, 
Massachusetts, Captain John Fisk, and Freedom, Captain John 
Clouston, cruised eastward as far as the coasts of France and 
Spain, capturing some twenty-five prizes, many of which however 
were recaptured by the British. 88 This was a most fortunate ven- 

86 Journals of House of Representatives, January 6, 1779. 

"The vessels in the Massachusets navy with the approximate periods of 
their service was as follows: Sloop, Machias Liberty, 1775-1776; schooner, 
Diligent, 1775-1776; brigantine (at first a sloop), Tyrannicide, 1776-1779; 
brigantine, Rising Empire, 1776-1777; brigantine, Independence, 1776-1777; 
sloop, Republic, 1776-1777; sloop, Freedom, 1776-1777; brigantine, Massa- 
chusetts, 1776-1778; brigantine, Hazard, 1777-1779; brigantine, Active, 
1779; frigate, Protector, 1779-1781; ship, Mars, 1780-1781 ; sloop, Defence, 
1781; ship, Tartar, 1782-1783; sloop, Winthrop, 1782-1783; and galley, 
Lincoln, 1779-1781. Most of these vessels mounted from ten to twenty 
guns, 4's and 6's. The only larger vessel was the Protector, 26. Vessels 
such as the Tyrannicide, Hazard, and Winthrop carried about 125 officers 
and men. The following captains were the chief officers in the Massa- 
chusetts navy: Jeremiah O'Brian, John Lambert, John Fisk, John Foster 
Williams, John Clouston, Jonathan Haraden, Daniel Souther, Simeon 
Samson, Richard Welden, Allen Hallet, James Nevens, John Cathcart, 
and George Little. Massachusetts did not establish the rank of commodore. 

88 These three vessels captured the four prizes mentioned in the follow- 
ing advertisement which appeared in the Continental Journal and Weekly 
Advertiser for July 3, 1777, a paper published at Boston. The advertise- 
ment is introduced here to illustrate the final disposition of prize vessels : 

To be sold by Public Auction at eleven o'clock on Wednesday the 23d 
of July instant at Mr. Tileston's wharf in Boston, the following prizes with 
their appurtenances. 

The Ship Lonsdale, about 250 tons. Brig Penelope, about 130 tons. 
Brig Britannia, about 140 tons. Scow Sally, about 180 tons. 

The above prizes lay at Tileston's wharf. They are all good vessels 
and well found. Inventories to be seen at the sheriff's office Cornhill, and 
at the place of sale. W. Greenleaf, Sheriff. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 147 

ture, for all told one can not now count more than seventy prizes 
captured by the Massachusetts navy. In the summer of 1780 the 
Board of War turned over the Mars, Captain Simeon Samson, 
to the Massachusetts Committee for Foreign Affairs which sent 
her to France and Holland for supplies. 

The state vessels were at times joined in cruises with priva- 
teers or with Continental vessels ; and enterprises were concerted 
with all three classes of armed craft. In April, 1777, the state 
took into its service for a month nine privateers, mounting 130 
guns, and carrying 1,030 men, to cruise with the Continental fri- 
gates Hancock and Boston after the British frigate Mil ford which 
had been especially annoying and destructive to the trade of the 
state. 89 In February, 1781, the Protector was cruising with the \^/ 
Continental frigate Deane thirty leagues windward of Antigua. 
In March, 1781, the Admiral of the French fleet at Newport was 
requested to send two French ships to cruise with the Mars on 
the Eastern Shore; and a bounty was offered to privateers who 
would cruise against the " worthless banditti " in that region."* 

The capture of a prize often amounted to little more than the 
chasing of a merchantman and the firing of a few shots as a sig- 
nal for surrender. At times, however, when the merchantman 
was armed or when the enemy's vessel happened to be a priva- 
teer the action was more serious. One of the most severe single 
engagements in which a Massachusetts vessel was concerned was 
that between the Protector 26, Captain John Foster Williams, 
and the privateer frigate Admiral Duff 32, Captain Stranger. It 
took place on June 9, 1780, in latitude 42 N. and longitude 47 
W. The engagement was heavy for an hour and a half when 
the Admiral Duff, having caught fire, blew up, all on board being 
lost except fifty-five men who were picked up by the Protector. 
The American vessel lost six men." The following brief account 
of one of these minor engagements told in the simple and direct 
language of the Massachusetts captain who took part in it is taken 
from a letter of Captain Allen Hallet to the Board of War, which 
is dated at sea on board the Tyrannicide, latitude 28 N., longi- 
tude 68° W., March 31, 1779. This graphic account shows with 

39 Massachusetts Resolves, April 26, 1777 ; Massachusetts Revolutionary 
Archives, XL, 29, 55. 
*° Massachusets Resolves,' March 2, 1781. 
" Massachusetts Gazette, July 24, 1780. 



148 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

clearness the character of the minor engagements of the Revolu- 
tion. 

" I have the pleasure of sending this to you by Mr. John Blanch 
who goes prizemaster of my Prize, the Privateer Brig Revenge, 
lately commanded by Capt. Robert Fendall belonging to Grenada, 
but last from Jamaica, mounting 14 Carriage Guns, 6 & 4 pound- 
ers, 4 swivels & 2 Cohorns, & sixty ablebodied Men, which I took 
after a very smart & Bloody Engagement, in which they had 8 
men killed & fourteen wounded, the Vessell cut very much to. 
pieces by my Shott, so that they had no command of her at all — 
amongst the killed was the 1st Lieut. & one Quarter Mr. — 
amongst the wounded is the Capt. 2nd. Lieut. & Gunner — I cap- 
tured her as follows: on the 29 Inst, at 4 PM. I made her 
about 4 leagues to windward coming down upon us, upon which 
I cleared the Ship and got all hands to Quarter, ready for an 
Engagement, I stood close upon the Wind waiting for her, about 
half past six PM. she came up with me, and hailed me, ask'd 
me where I was from, I told them I was from Boston & asked 
where they were from, they said from Jamaica & that they were 
a British Cruizer, I immedately told them I was an American 
Cruizer, upon which they ordered me to Strike, & seeing I did not 
intend to gratify their desires, they rang'd up under my Lee & 
gave me a Broadside, I immediately return'd the Compliment & 
dropping a Stern, I got under their Lee and then pour'd our 
Broadsides into her from below and out of the Tops, so fast & so 
well directed that in one hour & a Quarter we dismantled two of 
her Guns & drove them from their Quarter & compell'd them to 
Strike their Colors, during the whole Engagement we were not 
at any one time more than half Pistol Shott distant & some part 
of the Time our Yards were lock'd with theirs — I had Eight men 
wounded only two of which are Bad — amongst the wounded are 
my first Lieut. & Master, I intended to man her and keep her as 
a Consort during the Cruize, but having twenty wounded Men 
on board, of my own men & prisoners I thought it Best to send 
her home, with all the wounded men on board under the Care of 
the Surgeons Mate." M 

By far the largest naval undertaking of the Revolution made 
by the Americans was the Penobscot Expedition. Until 1779 

42 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XLIV, 408. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 149 

the general policy of those who managed the fleet of Massa- 
chusetts was to send its vessels cruising against the British trans- 
ports, merchantmen, and small privateers, leaving the coast to be 
defended by the seacoast establishment and by local forces. In 
August, 1777, the Council agreed with this policy for it then spoke 
of the Continental vessels, the state vessels, and the privateers 
as " imporper " to be employed in clearing the coasts of these 
"vermin."' 3 In April, 1779, it disapproved this policy. It now 
in a message to the House submitted whether, instead of sending 
the armed vessels of the state on long cruises after prizes, it 
would not have been vastly more to the advantage and profit of 
the state to have employed them cruising on the coast of Massa- 
chusetts for the protection of trade and the defence of harbors 
and seacoasts, " which have been left in such an unguarded and 
defenceless Situation that where we have taken one Vessel of the 
Enemy their small privateers out of New York have taken ten 
from us." 44 It would seem that the Board of War was right in 
employing its fleet in prize-getting rather than in defensive war- 
fare. The capturing of small privateers and merchantmen were 
the only enterprises for which the Revolutionary fleets were 
adapted. Those vessels that cruised continually near the Ameri- 
can coast sooner or later fell foul of the stouter and better armed 
ships of the enemy. The Board of War, had it not responded 
to the commercial spirit of the times, would have been com- 
pelled to adopt the methods of the privateers, did it wish to suc- 
ceed in its competition with them for seamen. 

During the first half of 1779 the British vessels were very de- 
structive to the trade and shipping of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire. On June 9, 1779, eight hundred of the enemy, en- 
couraged by certain Tories in Maine, effected a lodgement on the 
Maine coast at a place called Bagaduce, now Castine, near the 
mouth of the Penobscot river. 45 This made a fine vantage-point 

43 Ibid., 268. 

"Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, April 7, 1779. 

44 Amory's Sullivan, II, 376-78, James Sullivan to John Sullivan, August 
30, 1779. James Sullivan says that the occupation of Bagaduce by the 
British greatly alarmed Boston and neighboring seaports at the prospect 
of a scarcity of wood ; and that men who had made their fortunes by war, 
for once and for a moment, felt a public spirit, and freely offered their 
ships to the government. They were careful to have their ships appraised 
and insured by the state, which of course suffered the loss on the failure 
of the expedition. 



150 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

as a base for naval operations. The appeal for naval protection 
which the inhabitants of Massachusetts now made upon her was 
a strong one. Towards the close of June the Massachusetts 
government began concerting with the Continental Navy Board 
at Boston and with the government of New Hampshire an expedi- 
tion to capture and destroy this British station. Samuel Adams, 
who had recently retired from the chairmanship of the Marine 
Committee of Congress and had returned to Boston furthered 
the enterprise. To the fleet which was now formed, New Hamp- 
shire contributed the Hampden, 22 ; the Navy Board at Boston, 
the Continental vessels, Warren, 32, Providence, 12, and Dili- 
gent, 12; and Massachusetts, the three state brigantines, Tyran- 
nicide, 16, Hazard, 14, and Active, 14, together with thirteen pri- 
vateers, which were temporarily taken into the state service. 
These twenty armed vessels mounted in all 324 guns, and were 
manned by more than 2,000 men. Besides the armed fleet there 
were twenty transports which carried upwards of 1,000 state 
militia. The naval forces were under the command of Captain 
Dudley Saltonstall of the Continental navy ; and the troops were 
commanded by Brigadier-General Solomon Lovell of the state 
military forces of Massachusetts. Paul Revere was Chief of 
Artillery with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 

The assembling, manning, provisioning, and fitting of so many 
vessels greatly taxed the resources of Massachusetts. The fleet 
left Boston on July 19, and during the last days of the month it 
appeared off the Penobscot and attacked Bagaduce with only 
partial success, failing to take the main fort. Before a second 
attempt was made a British fleet from New York under the com- 
mand of Sir George Collier, who had received news of the expe- 
dition, appeared in the Penobscot. The British fleet consisted 
of the Raisonndble, 64; Blonde and Virginia, 32's; Greyhound, 
Camilla, and Gallatea, 20's ; and Otter, 14 ; together with three 
small vessels at the garrison, the Nautilus, 16, Albany, 14, and 
North, 14. It mounted 248 guns and carried more than 
1600 men. In number of guns and men the advantage lay 
with the Americans, but in weight of metal and tonnage it was 
probably with the British. On the morning of August 14 the 
British fleet came in sight of the American. The two fleets were 
barely in range of each others guns when the Americans were 
seized with a panic, and fled with their vessels helter skelter up 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 151 

the river, pursued by the British. The Americans offered almost 
no resistance whatever, but ran their ships ashore, set fire to them, 
and escaped afoot, when not too closely pursued. With the ex- 
ception of two or three vessels which were captured, the Ameri- 
can fleet was annihilated. The British lost 13; the American 
loss has been placed at 474. The larger part of the American 
sailors .and soldiers returned by woods to New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts. 

The total cost of this expedition to Massachusetts as calculated 
by the Board of War was £1,739,175. The larger part of this 
sum £1,390,200 was charged to the account of the navy. It suf- 
fered the loss of three state armed vessels and a victualer, nine 
privateers, and twenty transports. Among the twenty trans- 
ports, with possibly one exception, was the whole trading fleet 
of the state. Soon after the disaster a joint committee of the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives and Council with Arte- 
mas Ward as president, held an inquiry and made a report on 
the causes of the failure of the expedition. In answer to the ques- 
tion, " what appears the principal reason of the failure," the com- 
mittee decided unanimously, " want of proper Spirit and Energy 
on the part of the Commodore." A court-martial which was 
held on the frigate Deane in Boston harbor about the first of 
October found against Captain Saltonstall, and dismissed him 
from the navy. Rarely has a more ignominious military opera- 
tion been made by Americans than the Penobscot Expedition. A 
New Englander with some justice has likened it to Hull's sur- 
render at Detroit. Had it been successful, it would not have 
been worth the effort it cost. Its object had no national signi- 
ficance ; it was an eccentric operation. " Bad in conception, bad 
in preparation, bad in execution, it naturally ended in disaster 
and disgrace." ** 

Besides the Tyrannicide, Hazard, and Active the Massachu- 
setts navy lost to the enemy at least three other vessels. Towards 
the close of 1777 the British captured the Freedom and Inde- 

49 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, CXLV, 199-203, 35°; Wey- 
mouth Historical Journal, chapters VII-X, gives the best account of the 
Penobscot expedition, also contains the Original Journal of General Solo- 
mon Lovell kept on the expedition; Massachusetts Historical Society Col- 
lections 7th, II, 430; Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society 2d, 
XII, 201-202; Clowes' Royal Navy, IV, 28-29. 



152 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

pcndcnce. On May 5, 1781, His Majesty's ships Roebuck, 44, 
and Medea, 28, captured the Protector, 26, with more than one 
hundred and thirty men on board. 47 She was added to the Royal 
Navy as the Hussar. In the latter half of 1782 Captain George 
Little in the Winthrop cruised on the Eastern Coast and captured 
and sent into Boston " nearly the whole of the arm'd force they 
possessed at Penobscot," thus in part retrieving the naval honor 
of his state. 48 Acting under orders of Governor Hancock, Little 
in the Winthrop made the last cruise of the Massachusetts navy 
when in the winter of 1782- 1783 he visited Martinique. On his 
return, he was fitting for a cruise on the Eastern Coast when 
about April 1, news of permanent peace arrived. On June 4, 
1783, the Commissary-General was directed to sell the Winthrop, 
the last vessel in the navy. The Tartar had been sold during the 
past winter. 49 Captain Little's accounts were being settled in 
March, 1785. 

In July, 1775, Virginia began to raise and officer an army of 
more than one thousand men. By the fall of that year Lord Dun- 
more, the Provincial Governor of Virginia, who in June had re- 
treated to His Majesty's ship Fozuey at Yorktown, had collected a 
small flotilla, and had begun a series of desultory attacks upon the 
river banks of Virginia. On October 25 he was repulsed at 
Hampton ; on December 9 he was beaten by the Virginia patriots 
at Great Bridge ; and on January 1 he burned Norfolk. His move- 
ments excited so much alarm that the leading patriot families on 
the James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers retreated in- 
land for safety. In order to prevent the depredations of Lord 
Dunmore, and to provide effectually for the general defence of the 
state, the Virginia Provincial Convention in December authorized 
the Committee of Safety of the state to " provide from time to 
time such and so many armed vessels as they may judge necessary 
for the protection of the several rivers in this colony, in the best 
manner the circumstances of the country will admit." The 
Committee of Safety was further directed to raise a sufficient 



47 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XXXIX, 45. 

48 Ibid., CLVIII, 274, Message of Governor Hancock to House of Repre- 
sentatives, February 6, 1783. 

48 Massachusetts Resolves, June 4, 1783. Those naval vessels which were 
not captured, destroyed, or sold, were either returned to their owners, 
when rented, or thrown out of commission and employed in other services. 






Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 153 

number of officers, sailors, and marines ; and settle their pay, pro- 
vided certain specified rates were not exceeded. The maximum 
wage of " the chief commander of the whole as commodore " was 
fixed at fifteen shillings a day. 50 

Between December, 1775, and July, 1776, the Committee of 
Safety procured and established a small navy. On April 1 it 
fixed the naval pay, generally at the maximum rates permitted. 
Captains in the navy were to receive a daily wage of 8s. ; captains 
of marines, 6s.; midshipmen, 3s.; marines, is. 6d. The Com- 
mittee resolved that two years ought to be a maximum period of 
service. It appointed a number of the most prominent officers 
in the Virginia navy, among whom were Captains James Barron, 
Richard Barron, Richard Taylor, Thomas Lilly, and Edward 
Travis. It fixed the relative rank between army and navy 
officers. It purchased the boats Liberty and Patriot, the brigs 
Liberty and Adventure, and the schooner Adventure. It con- 
tracted for the construction of a number of galleys on the dif- 
ferent rivers of the state. 51 

George Mason and John Dalton were appointed a committee 
to build two row-galleys, and buy three cutters for the defence of 
the Potomac. In April, 1776, Mason wrote that the galleys were 
well under way, and that three small vessels had been purchased, 
of which the largest was a fine stout craft of about no tons 
burden, mounting fourteen 8's and 4's, carrying ninety-six men, 
and named the American Congress. A company of marines 
for this vessel, he said, were being exercised in the use of the 
great guns. 52 The Committee of Safety chose a " Lieutenant of 
Marines in the Potomac river Department." 

The Provincial Convention of Virginia, which met at Williams- 
burg on May 6, 1776, being convinced that the naval prepara- 
tions would be conducted more expeditiously and successfully if 
proper persons were appointed to superintend and direct the same, 
chose a Board of Naval Commissioners consisting of five per- 

50 Hening. Statutes of Virginia, IX, 83. 

61 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, VIII, 75-240, Journal of Com- 
mittee of Safety of Virginia, February 7 to July 5, 1776. Virginia had a 
class of vessels which she referred to as armed boats. They were smart 
craft, and appear to have been schooner-rigged. 

52 Miss Rowland's George Mason, I, 214, 218. 



154 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

sons. 53 The Board was authorized to appoint a clerk and 
assistants, and to elect from its membership a First Commissioner 
of the Navy, the title of a well-known officer in the English 
naval service. No member of the Board could sit in the legis- 
lature or hold a military office. Each Commissioner was to 
receive twenty shillings a day, when employed. On the depre- 
ciation of the currency this was doubled." A majority of the 
Board constituted a quorum. Thomas Whiting served as First 
Commissioner of the Board throughout its existence. 

In general the business of the Navy Board was to " superintend 
and direct all matters and things to the navy relating." It had 
charge of the building, purchase, fitting, arming, provisioning, 
and repairing of all armed vessels and transports. It had charge 
of the shipyards and the public rope-walk. In case of vacancies in 
the navy or the marines it recommended officers to the Governor 
and Council. It could suspend an officer for neglect of duty or 
for misbehavior. It was to keep itself informed on the state of 
the navy through reports from the naval officers. It was author- 
ized to draw warrants on the treasury for money expended in the 
naval department, and to audit the naval accounts. 

The Navy Board had charge of naval affairs in Virginia for 
three years, from the summer of 1776 until the summer of 1779. 
During 1776 and 1777 vessels were built on the Eastern Shore 
of Virginia, on the Potomac, Rappahannock, Mattapony, Chicka- 
hominy, and James rivers, and at Portsmouth, Gosport, and 
South Quay. After 1777 vessels were chiefly built at the Chicka- 
hominy and Gosport shipyards. No other state owned so much 
land, property, and manufactories, devoted to naval purposes as 
Virginia. In April, 1777, the Navy Board purchased 115 acres 
of land, for £595, on the Chickahominy twelve miles from its 
confluence with the James. 65 Virginia's ships .found here a safer 
retreat than at Gosport, which lay convenient for the enemy's 

63 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 149-51. The Provincial Convention 
which met May 6, 1776, adopted a Constitution which provided for a 
Legislature of two houses, and an Executive consisting of a Governor and 
a Privy Council of eight members. 

54 Ibid., 521-22, October session of General Assembly in 1778. 

55 Southern Literary Messenger, 1857, 14. The references to this maga- 
zine refer to a series of valuable articles entitled the "Virginia Navy of 
the Revolution." 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 155 

ships. It is said that before the Revolution the British had es- 
tablished a marine-yard at Gosport, and named it for Gosport, 
England, where they had an important dockyard. In some way 
Virginia came into possession of the shipyard at this place. 06 Two 
ships were built for the defence of Ocracoke Inlet, the chief en- 
trance to Albemarle Sound, at South Quay on the Blackwater 
a few miles north of the North Carolina line. 

At Warwick on the James a few miles below Richmond the 
state built and operated a rope-walk. The state owned a man- 
ufactory of sail-duck and a foundry. In July, 1776, four naval 
magazines were established, one each for the James, York, Rap- 
pahannock, and Potomac rivers. For each magazine one or two 
agents were appointed to collect and issue provisions, ship-sup- 
plies, and naval stores." For the location of the magazine on 
the Potomac the General Assembly authorized the Navy Board to 
purchase an acre of land at the head of " Potomack Creek." 5 ' 
In January, 1777, the Navy Board appointed James Maxwell, 
Naval Agent, to superintend the shipyards, and the building, 
rigging, equipping, and repairing of the naval vessels. He was 
to follow the instructions of the Board and keep it informed on 
the state of the navy. 69 Maxwell's annual salary was £300, pay- 
able quarterly. He lived at the Chickahominy shipyard. 

Virginia had a naval staff consisting of pay masters, muster 
masters, surgeons, and chaplains. The captains and recruiting 
officers enlisted seamen. Their task was rendered difficult not 
so much on account of the superior attractions of privateering, 
as in New England, as because of the small number of seamen 
resident in the state. The first commodore of the Virginia navy 
was John Henry Boucher. He was serving as lieutenant in the 
Maryland navy when in March, 1776, Virginia called him to 
the command of her Potomac fleet, and soon promoted him to the 
head of her navy. 80 He served as commodore for only a few 
months, resigning in November, 1776. Walter Brooke was com- 
modore from April, 1777, until September, 1778. Brooke's 

56 E. P. Lull, History of U. S. Navy Yard at Gosport, Virginia, 8-1 1. 

57 Journals of Virginia Navy Board, Virginia State Archives, June 25, 
June 26, 1776. 

58 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 235-36. 
"Journals of Virginia Navy Board, January 7, 1777. 
80 Maryland Archives, XI, 293-94. 



156 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

successor, James Barron, was not appointed until July, 1780; he 
served until the end of the war. The commodore of the navy 
made his headquarters regularly at or about Hampton, and super- 
intended the armed vessels in that part of the state. 61 

In Virginia, as in other states and in the Continental Congress, 
naval enthusiasm and interest was at its height in 1776. In the 
fall of that year the Navy Board contracted for the building of 
twenty-four small transports. 62 The General Assembly in its Oc- 
tober session authorized the Navy Board to construct two frig- 
ates of thirty-two guns each, and four large galleys adapted " for 
river or sea service." For manning these galleys and those 
already building the Navy Board was empowered to raise thirteen 
hundred men, exclusive of officers, to serve three years from 
March 3, 1777. It was to recommend proper officers to the Gov- 
ernor and Council. Having been commissioned by the Governor, 
the officers were to enlist the crews of their respective galleys. As 
it would be impossible to secure a sufficient number of experienced 
seamen, it was provided that each crew should consist of three 
classes of men : able seamen, at a daily wage of 3s. ; ordinary sea- 
men, at 2s. ; and common landsmen, at is. 6d. As the men in the 
second and third classes became proficient, they were to be pro- 
moted. Every recruit was given a bounty of $20. 63 

The Provincial Convention in its December session in 1775 
erected a Court of Admiralty consisting of three judges to en- 
force the Continental Association against trading with England. 
In its May session in 1776 it gave this court jurisdiction over all 
captures of the enemy's vessels. The General Assembly at its 
October session in 1776 superseded all previous admiralty legis- 
lation by an " Act for Establishing a Court of Admiralty." Such 
court was to consist of three judges elected by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the General Assembly. They were to hold their 
offices " for so long a time as they shall demean themselves well 
therein." The court, which was to be held at some place to be 
fixed by the General Assembly, was to have cognizance of " all 

61 Journals of Virginia Navy; State Navy Papers, I; Southern Literary 
Messenger, 1857, 3. 

"Journal of Virginia Navy Board, September-October, 1776. 

63 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 196-97- In August, 1776, the Navy 
Board drew up a list of naval rules which were endorsed by the Governor 
and Council. Journals of Virginia Navy Board, August 2, 1776. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 157 

causes heretofore of admiralty jurisdiction in this country." Its 
proceedings and decisions were to be governed by the regulations 
of the Continental Congress, the acts of the General Assembly of 
Virginia, the English Statutes prior to the fourth year of the 
reign of James ; and by the laws of Oleron and the Rhodian and 
Imperial laws, so far as they have been heretofore observed in the 
English courts of admiralty. In cases relating to captures from 
a public enemy with whom the United States should be at war, 
and in which a conflict should arise between the regulations of 
Congress and the acts of the General Assembly, the regulations 
of Congress should take precedence ; in all other cases of conflict 
the acts of Virginia were to prevail. This provision is of partic- 
ular interest. It is one of the first instances in which a state 
recognized the superiority of federal law when in conflict with 
state law. Virginia was liberal in granting appeals to Congress, 
as she permitted them in all cases of capture of the enemy's 
vessels." 

The Admiralty Court of Virginia had few prize cases. Gov- 
ernor Thomas Jefferson in writing to the President of Congress 
in June, 1779, no doubt understates the truth when he says that 
" a British prize would be a more rare phenomenon here than a 
comet, because one has been seen, but the other never was." His 
state, he said, had long suffered from a lack of blank letters of 
marque, and he wished fifty to be sent to him. 85 Virginia did not 
establish state privateering, but followed the regulations of Con- 
gress on this subject. Because of the lack of seamen and the 
continual presence of the enemy's vessels at the mouths of the 
Virginia rivers, the privateering interest was not important in this 
state. 

The Navy Board superintended both the trading and armed 
vessels of the state until April, 1777, when the trading vessels 
were placed in charge of William Aylett. 68 Writers on the Vir- 
ginia navy have not as a rule distinguished one class of vessels 
from the other, nor is it always easy to do so. During 1776 
seven vessels were employed chiefly in commerce." In the fall 

64 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 103, 131-32, 202-08. 

65 Ford, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, II, 241-43. 

66 Journals of Virginia Navy Board, April 8, 1777. 

67 These vessels were the brig Adventure, the schooners Hornet, Peace 
and Plenty, Revenge, and Speedwell, sloop Agatha, and armed boat 
Molly. The lists of vessels here given were compiled from the Virginia 
naval archives. 



158 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

most of them were ordered to the West Indies with cargoes of 
flour and tobacco ; one, the brig Adventure, was directed to 
proceed to Dunkirk, France. The armed fleet for 1776 consisted 
of sixteen small craft adapted chiefly for service in the rivers of 
Virginia and in Chesapeake Bay. 68 In 1777 the galleys Accomac 
and Diligence were built and stationed on the Eastern Shore; 
and the ships Caswell and Washington were built at South Quay 
on the Blackwater for the defence of Ocracoke Inlet, which Vir- 
ginia was undertaking jointly with North Carolina. Besides 
these four vessels, two brigs, one armed boat, and the ships 
Gloucester, Protector, Dragon, and Tartar were this year added 
to the navy. In 1778 an armed boat and the ships Tempest and 
Thetis were built; and in 1779 two armed boats, the brig 
Jefferson, and the ship Virginia were added. 89 

This fleet is formidable only in its enumeration. It was poorly 
armed, imcompletely manned, and in almost every respect illfitted 
for service. But few of its vessels went beyond Chesapeake Bay. 
It showed most activity during 1776 and the spring of 1777. 
From 1775 until 1779 fifteen small prizes were captured. In 
May, 1776, Captain Taylor seized four small merchantmen ; in 
June one of the Barrons brought up to Jamestown the transport 
Oxford with 220 Highlanders on board ; in the spring of 1777 the 
Mosquito, Captain Harris, carried into St. Pierre the ship Noble 
valued at 75,000 livres ; and a few months earlier the brig Liberty 
captured the ship Jane whose cargo of West India goods were 
valued at £6,000. These were the most fortunate captures made 
by the Virginia navy. 70 

^ These vessels were the galleys Henry, Hero, Lewis, Manly, Norfolk 
Revenge, Page, and Safeguard; the brigs Liberty, Mosquito, Northampton, 
and Raleigh; the schooners Liberty and Adventure; the sloop Scorpion, 
and the armed boats Liberty and Patriot. The schooner Liberty was taken 
into the trading fleet as the Hornet. It is believed that this list does not 
contain the vessels in Mason's Potomac fleet. 

60 The names of the vessels not mentioned in the text which were added 
during 1777, 1778, and 1779 were the brigs Greyhound and Hampton, and 
the armed boats Nicholson, Experiment, Dolphin, and Fly. The names of 
several other vessels, which were probably used in trade, occur during this 
period. Some of the ships are at times referred to as galleys. 

70 Files of Virginia Gazette ; Journals of Virginia Convention, May 8, 
1776; Virginia Historical Register, I, 77; Calendar of Virginia State 
Papers, III, 365. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 159 

Virginia's naval craft met with the usual misfortunes. During 
the first half of 1777 His Majesty's ship Ariadne captured the 
Mosquito. About the same time the frigate Phoenix took the 
Raleigh. The British made two raids into Virginia which were 
destructive to both the shipping of the state and private indi- 
viduals. The first was ordered by Clinton in the spring of 1779, 
the troops being under the command of Matthews and Collier. 
At the Gosport shipyard they destroyed five uncompleted vessels, 
three of which were frigates, besides a large quantity of masts, 
yards, timber, plank, iron, and other ship's stores. The ship- 
yards on the Nansemond were looted; and twenty-two vessels 
with a considerable quantity of powder were taken or destroyed 
on the " South Branch of the Navy." Suffolk was burned and 
upwards of two thousand barrels of Continental Pork and fifteen 
hundred barrels of flour were destroyed. In all one hundred and 
thirty vessels were burned. 71 The raid of Arnold and Phillips 
will be considered later. 

The General Assembly at its May session, 1779, discontinued 
the Navy Board and vested its strictly naval duties with a newly 
created Board of War consisting of five members. The Board 
of War was empowered to appoint a Naval Commissioner. A 
Board of Trade was now given charge of the trading vessels 
of the state and of the state manufactories of military supplies." 

The General Assembly in its May session, 1780, " for the pur- 
pose of introducing economy into all the various departments of 
government, and for conducting the publick business with the 
greatest expedition " abolished the Boards of War and Trade, 
and authorized the Governor to appoint a Commissioner of the 
War, a Commercial Agent, and coordinate with these two a Com- 
missioner of the Navy. This act is properly regarded as the out- 
growth of the same movement for economy and efficiency in 
administration, which resulted in the establishment in January 
and February, 1781, of single-headed departments of the Con- 
tinental Congress. The salary of the Commissioner of the Navy 
was fixed at thirty thousand pounds of tobacco a year, and that 
of his clerk at ten thousand pounds. 73 The Commissioner was 

11 Almon's Remembrancer, 1779, 289-95, account given by British officers ; 
Records of State of North Carolina, XIV, 85-86, 94-95. Some of the 
vessels destroyed at Gosport probably belonged to Congress. 

,2 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, X, 15-18, 123. 

73 Ibid., 278, 291-92. 



160 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

to be under the " controul and direction of the governour and 
council." Governor Jefferson appointed James Maxwell, the 
naval agent under the Navy Board, Commissioner of the Navy. 

At the October session of this year, moved by its need for 
money and the impossibility of fitting out the whole fleet, the 
General Assembly, ordered the governor to sell nine of the armed 
vessels and to equip and man the remaining six with all diligence. 
For some reason the governor did not carry out the order. 
There was probably little market for the vessels. 

The General Assembly in the May session of 1779,. as an in- 
ducement to enlistment, granted seamen and marines additional 
bounties and pensions. Recruits entering for the rest of the war 
were now to receive $750 and one hundred acres of land. They 
were to be furnished upon enlistment, and once a year thereafter- 
wards, with a complete suit of clothes. Naval officers were enti- 
tled to a " grant of the like quantity of lands as is allowed officers 
of the same rank in the Virginia regiments on continental estab- 
lishment." Disabled sailors and the widows of the slain were 
entitled to immediate relief and an annual pension. 74 

The years 1780 and 1781 were marked by a renewed naval ac- 
tivity in Virginia. It is recalled that the theater of war had 
now shifted to the Southern states. Savannah was in the hands 
of the enemy. Charleston surrendered in May, 1780. By the 
fall of 1780 the lowlands of the states to the south of Virginia 
were generally in the possession of the British. Apparently 
Virginia would be the next to feel the rough hand of the con- 
quering enemy. British privateers and naval craft lay off the 
mouths of the Virginia rivers and captured all the vessels that 
ventured towards the Bay or the sea. Early in 1780 it was ap- 
prehended that the enemy meditated an invasion of the coasts 
of the state. 

When the General Assembly met in May, 1780, it at once 
took measures for the protection of the coasts. It passed 
" an act for putting the eastern frontier of this commonwealth 
into a posture of defence." This act after providing for call- 
ing out the militia in the seaport counties, ordered the Gov- 
ernor and Council to direct the Commissioner of the Navy 
to immediately make ready for service in the Bay and on the 
seacoast the ships Thetis, Tempest, and Dragon, the brig Jeffer- 

74 Hening, IX, 537; X, 23-24, 217. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 161 

son, and the galleys Henry, Accomac, and Diligence. Three 
hundred marines to be commanded by five captains and 
fifteen lieutenants were to be recruited. Marines and sailors who 
enlisted for three years were to receive a bounty of $1,000. 
Naval officers were put on the same footing in regard to pay, 
rations, and privileges as officers of the same rank in the land 
service. 75 

When the Legislature came together in October, 1780, the situ- 
ation being still more critical, it was moved to pass an additional 
act for the defence of the seacoast. This act shows that the navy 
was in sore need for seamen and money and it provided drastic 
measures to secure both. Naval officers were now authorized, 
under certain restrictions and limitations, to impress seamen. 
The eastern counties of the state were directed to bind to the sea 
" under the most prudent captains that can be procured to take 
them " one-half of all orphans of certain descriptions living be- 
low the falls of the Virginia rivers. A hospital for seamen was 
established at Hampton to be maintained by a tax of nine pence 
a month on the salaries of all mariners and seamen in either the 
navy or the merchant service of the state. Officers and seamen 
were given the whole of their captures ; and still other induce- 
ments to enlistment, by way of pay and clothing, were held out. 

Two new galleys of the same construction as those built by 
Congress in 1776 carrying two 32's at the bow and at the stern, 
and 6's at the sides, were ordered for the defence of the Ches- 
apeake. Five vessels of the state fleet were to be immediately 
made ready for service; and all the other naval vessels were to 
be sold and the proceeds devoted to naval purposes. For the use 
of the navy import duties were laid upon rum, gin, brandy, and 
other spirits ; on wine, molasses and sugar ; and on all imported 
dry goods, except salt, munitions of war, and iron from Mary- 
land. Tonnage was laid upon merchant vessels. Despite these 
efforts few seamen and little money were raised, and the fleet dur- 
ing 1780, accomplished almost nothing. 77 " 

The salient event in the history of the Virginia navy in 1781 
was the invasion of Arnold and Phillips during the first half of 
the year. Arnold was first reported on the coast of Virginia on 
December 29, 1780, when his fleet consisting of twenty-seven sail 

75 Hening, X, 296-99. 76 Hening, X, 379-86. 

11 



7^ 



/ 



162 Administration of the Massachusetts and 

was seen at Willoughby Point. 77 Governor Jefferson began at 
once to make strenuous efforts to get the Virginia fleet in condi- 
tion to oppose Arnold. The role of Admiral was an odd one for 
Jefferson. In February, he sent Benjamin Harrison, Speaker of 
the Virginia House of Delegates to Philadelphia to obtain from 
the French minister the aid of the French fleet. 78 A half dozen 
or more privateers were taken into the service of the state. 
Twelve vessels of the state fleet of 1776- 1779 still remained. 
Most if not all of these vessels were either at the Chickahominy 
shipyard and nearby on the James, or else at the mouth of the 
James. Few of these vessels were sufficiently manned to render 
much service. On April 26, Maxwell reported 78 men on board 
seven vessels, whose complement was 520. Other vessels had 
neither arms nor men. 79 

In April, 1781, Arnold and Phillips made their raid up the 
James, penetrating as far as Richmond. On April 21 and 22 a 
detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie destroyed the 
shipyard on the Chickahominy, including a number of naval craft 
and the warehouses. On April 27 at Osbornes, on the James a 
few miles below Richmond the Virginia fleet supported by two or 
three hundred militia upon the shore opposite the British army, 
drew up to oppose the enemy. It consisted of six ships, eight 
brigs, five sloops, two schooners, and a number of smaller craft. 
Its chief vessels were the Tempest, 16; Renown, 16; and Jeffer- 
son, 14. The British sent a flag of truce to the Commodore of 
the Virginia fleet proposing to treat with him for its surren- 
der. He sent back the spirited reply that " he was deter- 
mined to defend it to the last extremity." A few cannon 
planted on the shore soon gave the enemy a command of the situ- 
ation. After a short engagement the Virginians scuttled or set 
fire to a number of their vessels and fled to the opposite shore. 
None of the fleet escaped. The British captured twelve vessels, 
which the Virginians had been unable to destroy. The British 
burnt the state rope-walk at Warwick. After the raid of Phillips, 
but one vessel remained in the Virginia navy, the armed boat 
Liberty." 

77 Ford, Writings of Jefferson, II, 392. 
18 Ibid., 443-44- 

"Virginia Calendar of State Papers, I, 588; II, 74. 

88 Almon's Remembrancer, 1781, II, 62-63. Arnold to Clinton, Peters- 
burg, May 12, 1781. 



Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 163 

The officers and seamen of the Virginia navy, thrown out of 
employment by the loss of their fleet, aided the allied forces at 
the siege of Yorktown in collecting supplies and transporting 
troops. The boat Liberty was used as a transport ; and also the 
ships Cormorant, Loyalist, and Oliver Cromwell, which three 
vessels is it believed Virginia purchased for this purpose. Soon 
after the surrender of Cornwallis, the Virginia General Assembly, 
recognizing that " during the continuance of the present expen- 
sive war it is necessary to husband the resources of the state 
with the utmost economy," dismissed almost all of the officers 
and seamen, the Commissioner of the Navy, the chaplains, sur- 
geons, paymasters, and all others on the naval staff. 81 

A number of times during the Revolution and now for the last 
time in 1782, Virginia and Maryland undertook to concert a 
naval defence of their trade in the Chesapeake. The General 
Assembly of Virginia, which met in May, 1782, appointed three 
commissioners to superintend the work of protecting the Bay. 
The Cormorant and Liberty were to be immediately prepared for 
this service. Two galleys and two barges or whaleboats were to 
be built. For this work the state appropriated the proceeds ans- 
wer from the sale of the Loyalist, £1000, and certain tonnage and 
auties. The Commissioners were to fix the pay and sub- 
xe of the seamen ; the fleet was not to be sent outside of the 
Capes. 82 *i 

The Commissioners managed a small naval force during 1782" 
and 1783 until the war came to an end. Commodore Barron, sta- 
tioned at Hampton, was chiefly occupied with the exchanging of 
prisoners. Beyond the building of a few naval craft, it does not 
appear that this final naval enterprise of Virginia was attended 
with fruitful results. When peace was declared in the spring of 
1783 the Commissioners had in different stages of construction, 
the schooners, Harrison, Fly, and Patriot and the barges York 
and Richmond. Virginia now disposed of all of her fleet except 
the Liberty and Patriot, which she retained as revenue cutters. 83 
In order to keep these two armed vessels in time of peace Vir- 

81 Herring, Statutes of Virginia, X, 450 ; Virginia Navy Papers, I and II. 

^Hening, Statutes of Virginia, XI, 42-44. In March, 1783, the three 
Commissioners were Paul Loyall, Thomas Brown, and Thomas Newton, 
Jr. — Virginia Calendar of State Papers, III, 456. 

"Virginia Navy Papers, II. 



164 Massachusetts and Virginia Navies. 

ginia in accordance with a provision in the Articles of Confeder- 
ation, obtained permission from Congress. 84 These two boats 
were still in the employ of the state in 1787. The Liberty saw 
more service than any other state or Continental vessel of the 
Revolution. She was in the employ of Virginia from 1775 until 
1787. 

"Journals of Continental Congress, October 3, 1783. 



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